Windows 98 user having problems installing Ubuntu 8.04.4

Did you MD5 test the ISO you downloaded?
Did you burn the CD as SLOWLY as you were allowed?
Did you test the CD for defects?

In addition to the above, a Win98 system is pretty old now, so I am wondering how much ram the machine has.
If you have a limited amount of ram, the install will either not work or will stall during the process.

There are Linux systems which will run on older hardware, but some of them are a little basic. Which to recommend is dependant on the machine specs you have. Ubuntu itself can be installed from the Alternative cd if your ram is close to the minimum for Ubuntu - the Alternative cd uses a non-graphic installer, which reduces the ram requirements somewhat.

If you get booted you can run:

free -m

You may benefit from using LUbuntu. Its a lhter distro and will better suit your older hardware. Gnome is quite bloated and will use more ram just for the desktop.

May be your Ubuntu live install cd is not perfect or it can't be read from your cdrom drive please verify it...

Here some general note on install Ubuntu and howto to get a good ubuntu iso cd image (.iso) to burn on a cd:

- Here the steps to install Ubuntu 10.04.1 https://help.ubuntu.com/community/GraphicalInstall

- Here install Ubuntu video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaqaDZZ_P0g&feature=fvw

Below there are some intructions to:
--- 1) Ubuntu prerequisites... and Ubuntu for pc with low power
--- 2) download the iso...
--- 3) check the md5sum of the iso image, please don't forget to check...
--- 4) burn the iso image to a cd ...
--- 5) install Ubuntu using the self made cd ...
--- 6) trouble screen at installation or at first boot after installation ...
--- 7) Get a good Ubuntu manual ...

The main ubuntu site is this: www.ubuntu.com and the download location is this
http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download

--- 1) Ubuntu prerequisites: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements

Ubuntu 10.04.1 release notes: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LucidLynx/ReleaseNotes

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LucidLynx/ReleaseNotes/ChangeSummary/10.04.1

If your ram is less than the recommended amount, you won't be able to install with the graphical installer,
but you might be able to use the Alternative cd, where you can use a text based installer - that uses less memory.
If your machine does have plenty of ram, you might want to try running Memcheck (which is also an option from the live cd, see below)
to just make sure your ram isn't failing.

- if your pc doesn't meet the Ubuntu prerequisites, you can try:

xubuntu http://www.xubuntu.org/get
lubuntu http://lubuntu.net/blog/lubuntu-1004-now-available-download

1.a) Please always prefer to download them using torrent if you can...

1.b) BE ABSOLUTELY SURE to verify the md5sum https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToMD5SUM
of the downloaded iso image BEFORE to burn it

1.c) burn it using infrarecorder if you are using Windows at lower speed you can do

1.d) boot your pc from cd and install...

--- 2) please download the 700 mb file http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download simply press on download button
To avoid download errors download the desired ubuntu iso install cd image using the torrent protocol.

- if you are using Windows please install a torrent client i suggest you http://deluge-torrent.org/
and download the iso using a .torrent link from here:
http://releases.ubuntu.com/10.04.1/ubuntu-10.04.1-desktop-i386.iso.torrent

--- 3) PLEASE BE SURE TO CHECK the md5sum of downloaded file to be sure it have no error https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowToMD5SUM
Only if the md5sum number match with this: http://releases.ubuntu.com/10.04.1/MD5SUMS go to the next steps.

--- 4) burn the iso image onto a cd, to do it install and use http://infrarecorder.org/?page_id=5 burn the cd at lower speed you can do and activate the data verify

--- 5) insert the self made install cd into your pc cdrom drive and reboot your pc. YOU MUST NOT SEE Windows starting and you can try Ubuntu from cdrom and then install it

--- 6) If you have trouble with installation (the system freeze or you can't complete it) be sure to read the above suggestions, then:

Please boot entirely (you must not see windows starting) from Ubuntu live install cd and when the system start to boot from cd you will see two bottom screen icons (keyboard and man inside circle ) please press space (choose your desired language) then a screen textual center menu will appear to you with this items in it:

Try Ubuntu without installing
Install Ubuntu
Check disc for defects
Test memory
Boot from first hard disk

Please select "Check disc for defects" and press enter to test if your cd-driver can read in a good way the live install cd... or if the install cd have some defective file in it.
Then please also perform a Test memory to be sure your pc RAM memory have not any issue

If you get a blank screen at boot after install or booting from the Ubuntu install cd please read:

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-fix-ubuntu-10-04-lts-lucid-blank-screen-at-startup.html

If you have trouble with intel8xxx graphic cards:

please try this: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Bugs/Lucidi8xxFreezes

--- 7) Ubuntu Manual, it's very informative: http://ubuntu-manual.org/
Click on the "download Button" to download the latest PDF version.